TITLE: In Your Eyes
AUTHOR: Gaeriel Mallory
RATING: PG
CATEGORY: BTVS/Batman: the Animated Series Crossover
DISTRIBUTION: The Haven, TTH, Anyone else, just ask.
DISCLAIMER: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all related characters are the property of Josh Whedon and Mutunt Enemy, Inc. Batman and related characters are the property of Warner Brothers and DC Comics.


Chapter Nine

Robin had wanted to come. He had prepared several arguments to convince Batman to let him come with the rest of them. One look from the Bat, however, had been enough for Robin to shut up and go on patrol-alone. Willow had smiled apologetically at him. He reminded her a lot of how Dawn used to be, begging to be let in on the Slaying action. It seemed that all teenagers, whether they be Key or masked vigilante, were in a hurry to grow up.

The three vigilantes and the witch stood in front of the warehouse. "Is this it?" Willow asked.

Nightwing nodded. "Yeah, this is it."

"All right then." Willow gripped her bag of supplies tightly and put on her Resolve Face. "We can do this," she muttered.

The four walked towards the door. Batgirl was about to enter when a hand on the arm stopped her. She looked up at Batman. "What is it?"

"If what Willow says is true, as soon as you and Nightwing walk in there, you'll be possessed by the spirits of the Slayer and Angelus. I think you should let us go in there first and have a chance to set up."

She nodded and allowed the other two to enter in first. She then looked over at Nightwing. "Nervous?"

He laughed shortly. "Oh no. I get possessed by the ghosts of dead vampires every night. Why should I be scared?"

She gave a weak chuckle. "Right. Nothing to be worried about."

The two stood there awkwardly for a few more seconds before he opened the door. "That should be enough time." She followed him through. A bright green light enveloped the two of them and shot outward into the night and that was the last thing either of them remembered.


Buffy felt her walk back into the warehouse. He was with her – the one that Angelus had chosen. She let herself be funneled downward, into the body of the woman known as Barbara Gordon.

She stretched out, filling the body of her host, reacquainting herself with the sensation of being corporeal again. Buffy felt the strength in this body; not as much as she had once had, but it was enough. She opened her eyes and saw the body that Angelus now inhabited. She looked past the black mask that he wore and saw the evil glint in eyes she knew so well. "Fancy meeting you here," she drawled just before she punched him in the face.

He snarled and retaliated. The two traded and blocked blows in a blur. He drop kicked her to the ground only to have her somersault back up, meeting his chin with a boot. She flipped backwards easily, landing in a crouch before sweeping his legs out from under him.

Angelus grunted when he hit the floor. He got up slowly and encircled his opponent. "Oh, you're going to pay for that, little girl."

Buffy smirked at him and held up two fists. "Ready whenever you are."

The two lunged at each other.


Batman stared in amazement at the two. "I never saw her move like that before."

"That's not Batgirl right there. That's Buffy. I recognize the style." Willow hurriedly swept out a blanket and laid it carefully on the floor. The Orb was placed directly in the center and the candles were placed in a circle around her. She sat down crosslegged with the Orb and the two combatants in front of her. "Now hopefully I can do this before they end up killing each other."


Renee Montoya and Harvey Bullock were in the part of their patrol that took them near the warehouse district. Montoya swore loudly when she was blinded by a bright green light. "What was that?" she asked her partner.

"I don't know, but it came from over there." He pointed and she swung the steering wheel sharply to the right, taking them towards the docks.


Batman watched as his two protégés battled it out in the center of the warehouse. He glared at the red-haired witch seated on the floor next to him. "Can't you hurry up?"

Willow matched him look for look. "I'm hurrying. Now can you please stop with the nagging already? You don't want to distract me because I might accidentally turn them into rats or something."

He was about to snap back a reply but he bit it back. He instead turned his attention back to the fight, suppressing a wince as Batgirl – no, Buffy – landed a high kick that snapped Nightwing's head back.

Angel, he had to remind himself. No matter how much they looked like Barbara and Dick, they were Buffy and Angel. A dead Slayer and a dead vampire, trying to kill each other while they were in the bodies of two people he cared about. He was not one that easily formed friendships or relationships. He may not show it to the world, but he fiercely protected those that he did make. He did not want to have to lose either Barbara or Dick tonight. He could not. If he did... It was something Bruce Wayne, underneath his mask, did not want to contemplate.


"Madre de Dios!" Montoya felt her grip on her gun slacken when she took in the sight before her.

Beside her, Bullock whistled through his teeth. "Always knew they were crazy," he muttered to himself. "And why isn't Bats doing something to break them up?"

"I don't know, but I'm putting a stop to this." She leveled her gun at the dueling pair. "Freeze! Police!"

The batarang snapped through the air and tore the firearm out of her hand. She muttered softly under her breath as she cradled the stinging hand to her chest.

"Stay out of this," Batman warned them.

"Or what, you pointy-eared freak?" Bullock demanded.

Whatever answer Batman might have given was lost as the redhead next to him started chanting and lights began swirling around her and the pair in the center of the room. Her head whipped back and her chanting got louder and faster. The glass orb under her hands began glowing, brighter and brighter until there was a bright flash and an unseen force pushed Montoya to the ground.


Willow scrambled up and stared at the shattered Orb of Thesula in front of her. "No!" she cried out.

Batman shook his head to try and clear the ringing and climbed back to his feet. "What happened?" he demanded. He looked at the center of the room to see the two still fighting. "Why didn't it work?"

"I don't know!" the witch wailed. "Maybe it's because Angel's in a human body with a soul, but he doesn't have a soul so I don't understand!"

"Calm down, Willow."

The two looked up at the unfamiliar voice. Batman's eyes narrowed when he saw the unfamiliar dark-haired woman standing in front of the two of them.

Willow stared at her in shock. "Miss Calendar?" she whispered. There before her was the computer teacher she and the rest of the Scooby Gang had befriended in high school. Jenny Calendar had been a gypsy who Angelus had killed in order to try and break Giles.

"You're trying to restore a soul to a ghost inhabiting a human body. The ordinary spell wouldn't work." Jenny held out a hand to her former student. "Here, let me help you."

Willow tremblingly took the hand and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. "But... How?"

Jenny smiled. "Don't question the Powers," she told the other witch. "Just know that I was sent to help you."

She closed her eyes and began chanting. It was the same spell that Willow had tried to perform, but different. Words and cadences were changed to better suit the situation. Lights appeared and swirled around the two witches as well as the two fighters, just like before. What was different, however, was that Nightwing stumbled back and held his head.

"It's not possible!" he gasped out. He fell to his knees and he felt tears form behind his mask. As Jenny stopped chanting, the lights began to slowly die away. He looked up at the masked redhead in front of him. "Buffy?"